Battery terminal clamp



April 18, 1939.

M. HUNEFELD ETAL BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP Filed Dec. 1'7, 193'? PatentedApr. 18, 1939 PATENT OFFICE BATTERY TERMINAL CLAMP Mark Huneleld andAlbert M. Kallanarud, Fort Dodge, Iowa Application December 17, 1937,Serial No. 180,374

2 Claims.

Electric storage batteries are usually provided with binding posts towhich the terminal clamps are detachably fitted. In practice itfrequently occurs that due to L rrosion and oxidation the battery postsand the clamps become coated with corrosion and frozen together, andunder such conditions it is difficult to remove the clamps and theclamps are frequently damaged during such removal. Furthermore, due toerosion by the battery acid the bolts used in the clamps are frequentlydamaged to such an extent that after removal a new bolt must besupplied.

The object of our invention is to provide a battery terminal clamp ofsimple, durable and inexpensive construction in which the clamp may bequickly and easily applied to the battery post and thereafter the boltmay be inserted into position readily, quickly and without the use oftools, and then turned by a wrench to clamping position, and when it isdesired to remove the clamp the bolt may be rotated with a wrench andthe clamp spread open to break it free from the binding post andthereafter the bolt may be readily and easily removed and replacedwithout the use of tools.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 shows a top or plan view of ourbattery terminal clamp with parts broken away to show structuraldetails.

Figure 2 shows a similar view with the clamp spread and the bolt readyfor removal or re-" placement.

Figure 3 shows a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.Figure 4 shows an end elevation with the bolt tilted to position forremoval or replacement.

Figure 5E shows a plan view illustrating a modification.

Figure 6 shows a sectional view through the bolt and the bendableU-shaped washer applied thereto; and

Figure 7 is a similar view showing the washer bent to position forsubstantially encircling the bolt.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, we

have used the reference numeral ID to indicate the body portion of theclamp having an opening therein to receive the electrical conductingcable II. On one side of the body portion i0 are two clamping arms I2and I3 shaped to receive a battery terminal post between them. The armI! is provided with a screw-threaded opening I4, and the other arm hasan opening in line with the opening I4, and this opening is in the formof a slot 15 arranged longitudinally of the arm i3, and this slot isextended upwardly and is open at the topof the arm at it.

The bolt is indicated generally by the numeral l1 and has a hexagonalhead l8 which is preferably formed with openings 19 to receiveirnplements by which the bolt may be rotated. The

end portion 20 of the bolt is screw-threaded, and an integral collar 2iis formed on the bolt at the end of the screw-threaded portion. Thiscollar 2| is so positioned upon the bolt and is 10 of such width that,when the bolt is in position as shown in Figure 1, the collar standsbetween the twoarms 12 and I3 and is out of contact with both arms.Furtherniorathe length of the bolt is such that, when it is unscrewed toposition for spreading the arms I! and I3 to the desired extent by meansof the collar, 2|, then the screw-threaded endof' the bolt willbewithdrawn from the screw-threaded opening I! so that the bolt may bereadily and easily removed 20 or replaced by simply grasping the head l8and moving it upwardly to the tilted position shown in Figure 4.Furthermore, the slot l5 provides means whereby,so long as the bolt iswholly or partially within the screw-threaded opening 25 the body of thebolt may be moved forwardly and rearwardly in the slot l5 sothat it isalways in line with the screw-threaded opening I.

In the modified form shown in Figures-5, 6 and detachable spacing deviceis inserted in the space between the collar, 2i, and the side of theslotted arm,- l3. In the drawing a 'U-shaped washer is shown, but anydetachable device which may be inserted temporarily may be used. When 35a washer is used it'is placed on the bolt before the bolt is screwed uptight, then the ends of the washer are bent over to the position shownin Fig. 7 and the bolt may be screwed up tight and the washer firmlyheld in position.- The advan- 40 tage of the spacing device is that withit the first unscrewing movement applied to the bolt begins thespreading of the arms, so that when the spreading action has proceededfar enough, the

washer or other spacing device may be removed 45 v and the unscrewing oithe bolt be completed easily by he :id without any objectionablepressure on the threads of the bolt and the screw threaded opening.

Two advantages are gained by using the spacing 50 device. First, thebolt and/or clamp may be loosened or removed very much more convenientlythan before, without the use of tools, in'a brief time and withoutserious trouble due to the bolt's "freezing on account of the corroding55 of the bolt and screw-threaded opening are under strain only whilemost of the threads are engaged.

,These threads are easily damaged because soft tery acid the clamp hasbecome "irozen to the I such an extent as to make it impracticable to;ll

battery post and the bolt has become eroded to reuse it, under suchconditions the operator applies a rotary unscrewing movement to the boltby means of a wrench applied to the bolt head. As soon as the collarengages the arm the bolt forces the arms I! and I3 apart so'that theirfrozen position on the post is broken. Then, as soon as the bolt is.turned far enough so that itsthreads do not any longer engage thethreads in the screw-threaded opening M, then the head of the bolt maybe grasped and moved upwardly. and the clamp is free from the post, andwhen it is desired to replace the clamp, the operator simply provides anew bolt and places it in position without the use of tools and thenturns it up to clamping position.

We have shown the slot I! through which the bolt is removed as being atthe upper edge of the arm l3, and this is of advantage because there isalways room to move the bolt head upwardly in the battery, but in someinstances there would be no room to move it horizontally away from thebody It. It is an .important feature that the outer edge of the slot beperpendicular to the axis of the arm for the reason that if the outersides of the arms, l2 and I3,

incline toward each other, because the diameter of the battery post isreduced by wear, or for some other reason, there is danger of the boltworking outward if the surfaces are thus inclined together, and therebyloosening the clamp.

It is important that the collar 2| be of such size and so positionedupon the bolt that the bolt may be rotated a short distance before thecollar engages the arm 13 and that the bolt be of such length that whenthe collar engages the arm I3 and the bolt is rotated enough turns toproperly spread the arms, that the bolt will then be out of engagementwith the screw-threads in the opening l4 so that it can be easilyremoved.

With our improvement, the clamp may be applied to the post quickly andeasily and clamped thereto simply by turning the bolt head, and whenremoving the clamp this may also be accomplished quickly and easily bysimply unscrewing the bolt. The removal or replacing of a used bolt witha new one can be done by the operator's hand and-without tools, and thecost of the bolts is very slight.

bolt between said collar 9,154,507 action of the battery acids. Second,the threads As shown in the drawing, the slot is wider than the bolt sothat the arms may be spread sufiiciently and so that the bolt will move'in the slot with little friction. An additional reason is that,-with awide slot, lateral tension on the bolt,

which tends to spoil the threads of the bolt and screw-threaded opening,is eliminated.

We claim as our invention:

1. A battery terminal clamp, comprising a body portion adapted toreceive an electrical conducting cable, two arms fixed to the bodyportion and shaped to receive a battery post between them, oneof thearms having a screw-threaded opening and the other having a slot in linewith the screw-threaded opening and extended to the edge of the arm, abolt having a screw-threaded end and a bolt head and a collar formed onit between the head and the screw-threaded end, said bolt being extendedthrough said slot and into said screw-threaded opening, said collarbeing of such size and so positioned that it is normally between andspaced apart from both arms, and when the bolt has been partly unscrewedfrom the screw-threaded opening, said collar will engage the adjacentarm so that further unscrewing movement will spread the will have beenremoved from the screw-threaded opening and may then be removed fromsaid slot by tilting it toward the open end of the slot, and a bendableU-shaped washer applied to the and the side of the adjacent arm.

2. A battery terminal clamp, comprisinga body portion adaptedto receivean electrical conducting cable, two arms fixed to .thebody portion andshaped to receive a battery post between them, one of the arms having ascrew-threaded opening and the other having a slot in line with thescrew-threaded opening and extended to the edge of the arm, a bolthaving a screwthreaded end and a bolt head and a collar formed on itbetween the head and the screw-threaded end, said bolt being extendedthrough said slot and into said screw-threaded opening, said collarbeing of such size and so positioned that it is normally between andspaced apart from both arms, and when the bolt has been partly unscrewedirom the screw-threaded'opening, said collar will engage. the adjacentarm so that further unscrewing movement will spread the arms, andsaidbolt being of such length that when the arms have been thus spread,the bolt will have been removed from the screw-threaded opening and maythen be removed from said slot by tilting it toward the open end of theslot, and a U-shaped washer applied to the bolt between said collar andthe side of the adjacent arm and removable in a lateral direction fromthe bolt.

HUNEFELD. ALBERT M. KALLANSRUD.

, arms, and said bolt being of such. length that when the arms have beenthus spread, the bolt

